The Who
 

I've always taken them a bit for granted but have been listening to an old compilation of theirs recently and feel like it's taken till now for the penny to drop. I've owned a lot of their albums in the past but never really listened to them much and eventually sold them on. I remember quite liking Sell Out and the first one but feel like I need to give them and some others another go. Recommendations? Please?

Uhmmm

Live at Leeds is pretty fucking cool.

^

Yeah. After touring with the over-blown Tommy, they decided to let loose, tear through some good ol' rock n' roll, and LIVE AT LEEDS is the result.

There's something weird about the Who: soulful vocals, rollicking drums, funky steady bass playing, crunchy guitars chords . . . yet they bore me.

Fuck it. Get a best-of and leave it at that.

That's the majority of what I've listened to....just best of comps. I just can't have too muhc of the same shit or else yeah.......they get boring.

Live at Leeds is one of the albums I used to have but only listened to a few times before selling it on. I remember quite liking it but nothing more. That maybe one that I should give another go to.

They're not a new obsession or anything, just a band that I've unexpectedly found I like more than I did before. But the point about them being at their best on compilations may well ultimately stand.

I can't imagine more than Live at Leeds and a best of will satisfy your itch, to be honest - you might want to try the box-set, but it's a bit pricey to find out if you like them properly.

Unless, of course, you're a massive The Jam fan. In that case, you might want to check out the entire Who output.

This has sealed it. I'll stick with the compilation (and maybe Live at Leeds).

I'd recommend most of their albums up to By Numbers. There's enough of a mix of great pop/rock songs and weirdness on each to keep me happy.

But if I had to have just one Who album I'd have to say The Kids Are Alright soundtrack (and make sure you have the film as well).

No, evollove killed it for me when he mentioned The Jam. Although I've never actually seen TKAA so I should at least give that a watch.

You have to watch The Kids Are Alright. I was a huge fan of the film way before I started listening to their music.

Oh, it's completely not what I thought It'd be. I'd always assumed it was just a concert film but from that trailer it seems far more interesting/fun. Thanks!

No not a concert film, nor a story of The Who.

A (non chronological) collection of live clips, TV appearances, interviews etc. A fantastic film.

I used to have a video of that film Maximum RocknRoll(?) which was really just a load of archive live clips and some interviews with the members. I remember thinking they were awesome in their early years but kind of lost interest when the operas kicked in. Daltry came across as an utterly decent chap in the interviews.

I think you mean Thirty Years of Maximum RnB. I haven't seen that.

Apparently when Keith Moon saw the unfinished version of TKAA he was so shocked at how terrible he looked compared to when they started that he vowed to sober up. I think he died about a week later.

A Quick One
Tommy
Live At Leeds (I really prefer the original vinyl version, I think in cd there is not that much energy)
Who´s Next
Quadrophenia
Odds and Sods

All of their albums are quite good (well I don´t still have Face Dances, I think It´s Hard and Endless Wire are one of the greatest late career albums of the world) but these are the greatest if you not including My Generation and Sell Out.

Well I love the 3 first albums (My generation, A quick one, Sell out).
Live at Leeds is a MUST-check-out-album, defenitly. Probably the best livealbum ever released.

Otherwise, I think I have to say Quadrophenia is the best one (which they're btw going to tour with now).

I hope they come to europe again, stockholm 2007 was aweeeesome.
Superb band.

this is how i feel about them. the early stuff is urgent and energetic, just like the drugs they were on, and the later stuff is fat and wasteful like a fat wasteful alcoholic

i like "i can see for miles" and i think thats from later Who, but otherwise i dont really like them as they got stadiumish.

and thats nothing against stadiumish in itself, i just didn't like their stadiumish

It's from 1967.

As for their operas. The first one (A Quick One While He's Away) was on the album A Quick One, in 1966.
The exact opposite is true for me. I tend to hate "stadium" music but make an exception for The Who.